Portable electric lamp.



No. 814,065 PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906. J. L. MULRY.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.4,1905.

8110mm Q/Qhmmw Joge/jz I 7M 4 M at UNITED STATES PATENT o FioE.

JOSEPH L. MULR-Y, OF PAVVTUOKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM K. TOOLE, OF PAVVTUOKET, RHODE ISLAND.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 6, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPH L. MULRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Pawtucket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Electric Lamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to electric lamps of the portable class that are adapted to be used as table-lamps or that may bereadily carried about as a hand-lamp.

An essential feature of the lamp is that the holder is provided with a spring-actuated rotatable reel or barrel on which the surplus cord may be wound andfrom which it may be drawn off as required, thus allowing the lamp to be used at different distances from the point of attachment of the flexible cord or'conductor and avoid the inconvenience of trailing a slack cord around on the floor.

Another featureof the invention is the means that have been provided for guiding the conductor-wires to the drum and also for actuating said guide to grip the wire and hold the same in any desired position.

The invention consists of other novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the appended claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device, partly in section. Fig. 2 shows an elevation of the barrel on which the conductor-wire is Wound, also showing the guide-rods and guide grip which engage said wire and hold the drum against its spring tension. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of the grip-guides and the eccentric grip-actuating bars. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the eccentric grip-actuating bars and the gripguide mounted thereon.

Referring to the drawings, at 1 is the base of the lamp on which the standard sets. This base may be spun up of brass or of any desired material and is preferably filled at 2 with an insulated block which is threaded at 3 to receive the fixed spindle 4. Rotatably mounted on this spindle is the barrel 5,

supported from said spindle by the arm 6 6 from the hub 7. To support this hub, the collar 8 is fixed to said spindle 4 by the setscrew 9. At the upper end of this barrel 5 is the flanged head 10. The center portion of this head is cut away at 11, so that a permanent connection may be made from the fixed spindle 4 to support the plate 12. Said plate is insulated from the spindle by the insulating-bushing 16. Into this plate is formed a lamp-socket 13 for the reception of the lamp 14, and in the outer edge of this plate is journaled the upper ends of the eccentric grip-actuating bars 17 17.

At 18 is the conductor-wire that may be wound onto the barrel, as shown in Fig. 2. This conductor is of the usual type, being composed of two wires 19 and 20. The wire 19 is led to the binding-post 21, from where it is connected to the plate 12 through the spring contact-finger 22, and as the barrel 5 revolves this contact slides around the under surface of said plate, forming a continuous contact thereto, and the said plate transmits the current to the lamp through the socket 13. The other wire 20 is connected to the binding-post 23, from where the current is transmitted through the spring-finger 24 up through the spindle 4 to the bottom of the lamp at 25.

Located at the lower end of the barrel,but separated therefrom, is the circular plate 26, and extending downward from this plate is the ferrule 27, into which the handle 28 is set. Connected to this plate 26 is the bearingplate29. (Best illustrated in Fig. 3.) This bearing-plate is designed especially to form the lower journals for the eccentric-rods 17 17 To the lower end of each of these rods is fixed the pinions 30 30. Between these two pinions is the rack-rod 31, with teeth on either edge thereof to engage both of the said pinions at once. This rack is held in position to slide endwise through the bearings 32 32 and is normally held in its outward position by the tension of the coil-spring 33. The end of this rack-bar is turned down at 34 to provide a convenient 'handle by which it may be drawn inward against the tension of said spring by the thumb or finger of the hand that carries the lamp. At 35 35 are two clamping jaws mounted to slide up and down freely on the rods 17 17. These jaws interlock, as shown at 36 in Fig. 4, and in the two jaws is a slot or hole 37, through which the conductor-Wires 18 are led to the drum.

At 38 is a spring, preferably flat and laid in 1 a coil about the spindle 4, one end of this spring being connected to the rotatable hub at 39 to actuate the barrel and the opposite s end being connected to the fixed post 40 on i the plate 26.

Th operation of the device may be more fully described as follows: Any amount of Wire may be wound and carried on the barrel, according to the] distance it is desired to carry the lamp from the point of attachment, the amount being limited only by the capacity of the barrel and the length of the barrelactuating spring.

One very essential feature of the device is that the wire is led through the gripping-jaws 35 35. These aws are normally held to grip the cord and retain the same firmly in its grasp. When it is desired to take in or let out any of the cord, the jaws are readily opened by a pressure of the thumb and finger on the handle 34. These jaws may be slid either up or down along the grip-actuating bars 17 and always be made to draw squarely on the wire from the barrel.

It is found in practice that when the rotation of the barrel is controlled by means that engage the reel directly it is also necessary to place a tension on the wire as it is fed to the same in order that it may be wound properly thereon; but by gripping the cord, as is done in this case, both of these objects are attained by one operation, and the wire is wound tightly and evenly on the barrel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a portable electric lamp, including the lamp, a base and upright standard for su porting the lamp, a handle on said stand- I ar by which said lamp may be carried, a I rotatable spring-actuated reel or drum on I which the surplus conductor-wire is wound,

said drum being arranged to rotate about the axis of said standard, and means supported from said standard for automatically gripping or binding said wire to control the amount to be wound on said drum.

2. In a device of the character described, a lamp, a fixed upright spindle supporting said lamp, a barrel supported from and adapted to rotate about the axis of said spindle, a coilspring acting on said barrel to rotate it, means attached to said barrel and adapted to rotate with it for transmitting current from the conductor-cord to said lamp, and means supported from said standard for automatically gripping or binding the wire to control the amount to be wound on said drum.

3. In a device ofthe character described, a lamp supported from a spindle, a spring-actuated rotatable barrel arranged to rotate about the axis of said spindle, a grip-guide mounted to slide on eccentric bars, and means for operating said bars to open and close the grip-guide to engage or release the conductor-wire as it is being led to or from said drum.

4. In a device of the character described, a lamp, a spindle for supporting said lamp, a base on said spindle on which the device may stand, a spring-actuated rotatable barrel supported from said spindle, a grip-guide mounted to slide parallel with the axis of the barrel on two parallel eccentric bars, gears mounted on said bars, a sliding rack engaging said gears, the movement of which rack acting through said gears and eccentric bars serves to 0 en and close the grip-guide to engage or re ease the conductor-wire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH L. MULRY.

Witnesses:

HOWARD E. BARLOW, E. I. OGDEN. 

